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Republicans From Every County Endorse Haslam

NASHVILLE – More than 550 Republican leaders today endorsed Republican gubernatorial nominee and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, saying he has the right plan, experience, and knowledge to lead Tennessee as its next governor.

Today’s announcement includes every Republican member of the Tennessee Legislature, the Tennessee Republican Party’s State Executive Committee and other Republican elected officials and leaders representing every county in Tennessee.

"I am honored to be casting my vote for Bill Haslam and I am proud that he will be our next governor,” said Congressman Marsha Blackburn. “In Mayor Haslam, we'll have a governor who will fight for Tennessee values and fight to protect your pocketbook."

“Mayor Haslam knows what it means to create jobs in the private sector and recruit jobs in the public sector,” Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said. “He's done it before, in business and as Mayor, and he'll bring that unique experience to the Governor's office. I trust Bill Haslam to make the tough decisions – the right decisions – in the challenging times ahead.”

“The safety of Tennesseans is one of my highest priorities, and I believe Bill Haslam has the right ideas to improve the safety of all Tennesseans,” said Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons. “He’ll work to toughen sentencing laws to keep violent offenders of our streets because safe streets attract new businesses and more jobs.”

“Bill Haslam understands that strengthening education is the key to workforce development and job creation, and that it must be a priority for the next governor,” said State Sen. Jamie Woodson. “He’s the leader Tennessee needs to hold us accountable to our goal of real education reform so we can attract new and growing industries and companies that will bring high quality jobs to our state.”

“Since winning our party’s nomination for Governor, Mayor Haslam has worked tirelessly to ensure that our party is unified,” said Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney. “With Bill Haslam at the top of the ticket, Tennessee Republicans are in a great position to build on our majorities in the Tennessee House and Senate, as well as win a majority of our Congressional delegation.”

“I’m grateful to be the Republican Party’s nominee for Governor of Tennessee,” Haslam said. “And I’m grateful for the support of elected leaders all across our state who working tirelessly for our campaign. Together, we’re going to make our great state even better.”

Mayor Haslam is the two-term Republican Mayor of Knoxville, reelected in 2007 with 87 percent of the vote.

A hardworking, conservative public servant, Haslam led Knoxville to become one of the top ten metropolitan areas for business and expansion, while reducing the city’s debt, tripling the rainy day fund, reducing the number of city employees to the lowest amount in 15 years and bringing property taxes to the lowest rate in 50 years.

An executive leader with a proven record of success, he helped grow his family’s small business from 800 employees into one of Tennessee’s largest companies with 14,000 employees.

As a lifelong Republican, I will say this much about Governor Bredsen.

He went against the grain of the normal Democratic beliefs and has been more of a fiscally repsponsible Governor than I ever thought possible.

Laying aside the Democratic belief of spending more than money than you have coming in, Bredesen has done an overall good job with the finances of the State of Tennessee and I for one appreciate that. He didn't always make the most popular decision, but he made the one that was for the betterment of Tennessee most of the time.

I believe him to be 100 times better than his predecessor Don Sundquist who was an absolute joke.